Larry Ellison buys-up Hawaiian airline to go with the $600 million island he already owns off Maui

Larry Ellison, the Oracle CEO and multi-billionaire announced this morning that he has bought a Hawaiian airline to go with his $600 million Hawaiian island.

The acquisition of Island Air, which travels between the Hawaiian islands, comes after Ellison, who is worth $41 billion purchased the island of Lanai, off the coast of Maui in June.

There are no planned staff changes for the 245 employees and current tickets will be honored while the airline develops plans for additional planes, routes and services, the Honolulu- based carrier said today in a statement. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Multi-billionaire Larry Ellison has bought Island Air in Hawaii for an undisclosed amount - adding to the island he purchased in June for $600 million

'The entire Island Air team pulled together over the past year to restructure and position the company for success and this sale represents the culmination of that process,' said Les Murashige, Island Air president.

'We welcome Mr. Ellison and we look forward to an exciting future together.'

Ellison is the world’s eighth-richest man, with an estimated net worth of $40.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

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In October, Ellison said he wanted to turn Lanai into a 'little laboratory' for experimenting with more environmentally sound ways to live.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's ambitions include converting sea water into fresh water on the 141-square-mile island of Lanai.

He also wants to see more electric cars on the island located near Maui, and hopes to increase its fruit exports to Japan and other markets.

One of the world's richest men: Computer technology giant Oracle's CEO and founder Larry Ellison has an estimated fortune of $41billion and is planning to turn an island he bought into a 'little laboratory'

Paradise: The 141 square-mile paradise island had a reported price tag of $600million. The relatively untouched island features attractions such as Pu'u Pehe Rock [pictured]

Holiday hotspot: Lanai is the smallest publicly-accessible island in Hawaii

Ellison, named America's third richest man by Forbes magazine, announced his plans in San Francisco in October in an interview with the financial news channel CNBC.

The interview focused mostly on Oracle Corp, a business-software maker that Ellison - who also owns the 454ft long Rising Sun - super yachthas been running for 35 years.

He also touched upon several other topics, including his friendship with the late Steve Jobs and his interest in buying the Los Angeles Lakers, if the professional basketball team were ever for sale.

Oracle's success has minted Ellison an estimated fortune of $41billion. He bought 98 per cent of Lanai from billionaire David Murdock in June for an undisclosed price.

The Maui News reported that Murdock, the CEO of Castle & Cooke Inc, was seeking $500million to $600million for his Lanai holdings.

Ellison hadn't publicly shared his vision for Lanai until October's interview. The silence had left Lanai's roughly 3,200 residents wondering whether their lives would be disrupted under Ellison's ownership.

Room with a view: The billionaire has also recently purchased his ninth property on Billionaires' Row on Carbon Beach in Malibu

Big spender: Ellison bought the mansion off former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel and his wife for a reported $36.9million

In past interview's Ellison has said he intends to 'support the local people.'

Ellison's Lanai holdings include two resorts, two golf courses and assorted commercial and residential buildings. Three utilities on the island also are under Ellison's control

Lanai is just one piece of Ellison's sprawling real-estate portfolio. He also owns estates or mansions in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and southern California, as well as in Newport, Rhode Island. and Japan.

He told CNBC in an October interview that he plans to convert some of the homes into art museums and traced his interest in fancy homes to his childhood dream of being an architect.

Larry Ellison also owns the 454ft long Rising Sun super yacht, which cost more than $200m

Ellison has called the Lakers his favorite NBA team. He also said he is a fan of the Golden State Warriors and the Chicago Bulls.

He tried to buy the Warriors in 2010 only to be outbid by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Joe Lacob and Hollywood movie producer Peter Guber.

Oracle, which makes database software and applications that automate administrative tasks, has been on a shopping spree that has seen the company spend more than $50billion buying dozens of companies over the past seven years.

Ellison told CNBC that Oracle probably won't be making any big acquisitions during the next two years as the Redwood Shores, California company fine tunes its software products so they can be sold as a service over high-speed Internet connections - a concept known as 'cloud computing'.